Growlers in Ottawa

A growler is a container used to transport draught beer from one place or another. It can be made out of glass, ceramic or stainless steel and come in various sizes, from the 1.89 litre (64 oz) standard to 750 ml (25 oz) mini versions.

In Ottawa and the surrounding area it is standard for a brewery or brewpub to offer their beer to-go in a growler. While filling fees vary from brewery-to-brewery they all follow the same rules laid out by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and will only fill their own branded growler. For example, a Beau’s growler cannot be filled at Big Rig. The up side is that the brewery exchanges the used, dirty growlers for ones that have been cleaned at the brewery so you never have to worry about cleaning your own.

The only breweries that don’t offer growlers are contract breweries, or breweries that use the space of another brewery to brew their own beer. For a list of breweries/brewpubs in the “Ottawa-area” check out our indepth list and do some beer tourism.

Using the Guide

In our list of growler offering breweries we feel it’s important to highlight three things that may affect your growler purchases:

Growler Availability/Size While the 1.89 litre Growler is still the standard many breweries have started offering smaller sizes. Other sizes include 950ml Half Growler (also called the Boston Round) and the 750ml Grumbler.

Filling MethodHow it’s filled will determine how long you can keep your growler. Some breweries/brewpubs fill their growlers using the bottom-up method where a hose is attached to a draught tap and then inserted into the growler. This may be easy to do, but having the beer exposed to the oxygen inside of the growler will cause it to spoil faster. The other filling method is to use a counter pressure C02 filler that purges oxygen out of the growler before filling it with fresh draught. This is time consuming, but will keep the beer fresh for a longer time.

DepositThe growlers you buy are expected to be returned to the brewery and you’re charged a deposit to encourage their return. Not all breweries charge the same amounts. Some local breweries will take growlers from other breweries thanks to Brew Donkey, an Ottawa craft beer delivery service. You can find out who participates in the Growler Exchange Program on their website.

Follow us

Upcoming Events

Brews+Books - Book sale/swapSeptember 15, 2019 at 11:00 am – 3:00 pmKichesippi BeerCome out from 11am to 3pm and swap a book, sell a book or donate a book. If you've got a bunch of books you'd like to sell contact Mike@kbeer.ca for table space. All proceeds will go to FLOPA (https://www.fopla-aabpo.ca/). https://www.facebook.com/events/2369058223420720/

Beau's OktoberfestSeptember 20, 2019 – September 21, 2019

Orléans Oktoberfest 2019September 21, 2019 at 11:00 am – 11:59 pmOrléans Brewing Co. - OBCJoin us for our 1st annual Orléans Oktoberfest party on September 21st! We’ll have 4 other breweries pouring and over 20 beers on tap–including our signature Oktoberfest beer which is included with your entrance to the par-tay! Our kitchen will be serving special Bavarian inspired foods that you won’t want to miss. * Beer Garden…